Episode 10: Repairing our Relationship to Stuff – Barnard College’s Sandra Goldmark Discusses Sustainability in the Context of Reuse, Repair, and Design

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Sandra Goldmark, Barnard College and Fix-up Repair.

Sandra Goldmark, Barnard College and Fix-up Repair.

Guest: Sandra Goldmark
Director, Sustainability and Environment and Associate Professor of Professional Practice in Theatre at Barnard College;
Co-Founder of Fixup.

Host: Dave Karlsgodt, Principal, Fovea, LLC

Production Assistance:
Sarah Barr and Cecilia Kane

Ever feel like you spend a fortune keeping up with the latest in tech, fashion, and other trends? Have more stuff at home than you know what to do with? In this episode, Sustainability Director at Barnard College Sandra Goldmark discusses our obsession with stuff, how overconsumption threatens our climate and natural resources, and how we might repair our global economic system to be better in-tune with our innate human values.

A set designer, Goldmark first noticed the scope of our problem with single use items in the context of theater where sets would be built, featured in a show for several nights, then go straight to the landfill. This inspired her to start a repair service called Fix-up. Business boomed and Goldmark learned people were willing to pay to get their old stuff fixed, sometimes as much as a new replacement would cost, prompting the very good question: why don’t major retailers offer product repairs?

Her work demonstrates how a practical repair service can prompt a deeper investigation into how our stuff defines our humanity, and how what we have says about who we are. A prime example of how a grassroots initiative can fill a gap in innovation, Goldmark challenges us to adopt an experimental approach to sustainability on both the individual and campus levels.

Join us this episode for a glimpse into Goldmark’s vision for a revamped global economy built on the principle of repair, beginning with fixing that old chair in your garage.

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Episode 9: The New Grand Strategy

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Colonel Mark “Puck” Mykleby, USMC (Ret)

Colonel Mark “Puck” Mykleby, USMC (Ret)

Guest:  Mark "Puck" Mykleby
Co-Founder, Chief Strategy Officer
Long Haul Capital Group

Host: Dave Karlsgodt, Principal, Fovea, LLC

In this November 2017, interview I’ll talk with retired Marine Colonel Mark Mykleby about a book he recently co-authored with Patrick Doherty and Joel Makower, called “The new Grand Strategy, Restoring America’s Prosperity, Security and Sustainability in the 21st Century.”  Our discussion covers a wide range of topics including the history of Grand Strategy in the United States including the lead-up to World War II, the Post-war recovery and the Cold War.  He talks about how our current systems are based on a now obsolete grand strategy and goes on to outline a vision for how America can reinvent itself using sustainability as a core, organizing concept.

book.jpg

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Episode 8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

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(Left to right) Rachelle Haddock, Liska Richer, and Caroline Savage with Elke Schreiner at the 2017 California Higher Education Sustainability Conference at the University of California, Santa Barbara

(Left to right) Rachelle Haddock, Liska Richer, and Caroline Savage with Elke Schreiner at the 2017 California Higher Education Sustainability Conference at the University of California, Santa Barbara

Guests:  

  • Liska Richer, Manager of SEEDs Sustainability Program at the University of British Columbia

  • Rachelle Haddock, Project Coordinator Campus as a Learning Lab at the University of Calgary

  • Caroline Savage, Campus as a Lab Director at Princeton

Host: Dave Karlsgodt, Principal, Fovea, LLC

In this episode you’ll hear a round-robin interview with three different thought leaders who run programs focused on using their campuses as a test-bed for sustainability. They all facilitate the use of campus resources to connect students, faculty and staff to hands-on, sustainable projects at their universities.  They discuss the many common terms used for these programs including "campus as living lab", "campus as a learning lab", "applied learning." Each guest talks about the logistics of how their programs are structured, funded and evolving. They also share their insights on the major challenges and opportunities related to Campus as Lab projects in the broader picture of sustainable development and higher education.

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Episode 7: Fuel Switching and Sustainability at Iowa State University

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Jeff Witt, Director of Utilities and Merry Rankin, Director of Sustainability at Iowa State University

Jeff Witt, Director of Utilities and
Merry Rankin, Director of Sustainability
at Iowa State University

Guests:  Merry Rankin, Director of Sustainability and Jeff Witt, Director of Utilities at Iowa State University
Host: Dave Karlsgodt, Principal, Fovea, LLC

In this interview, we get an inside look inside look at the decision-making process for an on-site power plant and how a land grant institution pursues sustainable energy while balancing institutional energy demands and fiscal responsibility.  Merry and Jeff describe the roles on campus and how they work together to advance the three facets of sustainability (environmental, economic, and social) on their campus.

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Episode 6: The Path to 100% Renewable Energy: an interview with Bronte Payne of Environment America

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Guest:  Bronte Payne, Environment America

Host: Dave Karlsgodt, Principal, Fovea, LLC

Production Assistance:
Tymber P. Felts

Bronte Payne, Clean Energy Advocate, Environment America

Bronte Payne, Clean Energy Advocate, Environment America

We know it’s time to wean ourselves from fossil fuels and invest in a future of renewable energy instead, but that’s easier said than done. This episode, we’ll discuss a recent report that Bronte Payne, campaign director for Environment America’s 100% Renewable Campuses Campaign, co-authored with the Frontier Group. It’s called Renewable Energy 100, The Course to a Carbon-Free Campus and it acts as a blueprint to the future of renewable energy on college campuses and the nation. In the report, Bronte emphasizes how college campuses and students are at the forefront of the fight for renewable energy.

We’ll also discuss an ongoing campaign by Environment America that aims to move colleges and universities to commit to 100% renewable energy and how students, faculty, and staff can get involved with this campaign on their own campuses. Prepare to be inspired by Bronte’s ambition and passion for sustainability that will make you want to get your activist on.

 

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Episode 6: The Path to 100% Renewable Energy: An Interview with Bronte Payne of Environment America